Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:43:11 -0800WeeblyMon, 17 Dec 2012 18:03:00 GMThttp://www.pamcsk.com/blog/december-17th-2012Meghan MacFarlane Magic at the PAMC So I went to this potluck on the weekend. Not your average cabbage roll and perogy kind of potluck, though. I was invited to the Prince Albert Multicultural Council's Christmas potluck. This has become somewhat an exciting event in my life, as it happens monthly and the more often I go, the more I anticipate the next one. For those of you who are not familiar with the PAMC potlucks, they are probably Prince Albert's best kept secret. You arrive at this nondescript building, no fancy sign or neon "open" light. Walking in the doors you enter in a somewhat tiny little lobby, but as you make your way down the hall you begin to notice how warm and welcoming it is, how the colours and sounds become homey and comforting. You enter into the main area, part dining hall, part kitchen. Bookshelves line one wall in the kitchen nook, Christmas tree and decorations on another wall, sound system at the back with soft holiday music. Dining tables and chairs are arranged in rows so long they reach from one end to the other, encouraging people to sit in larger groups, to socialize and become friends. The buffet table is arranged, cold dishes at one end, main courses in the middle and unending desserts overflowing onto counters, as there are far too many to fit. You peruse the plates and platters, salads and meats, smelling and wondering. Every dish on the table from another culture, spices and seasonings far too complex for me to identify, but absolutely mouth watering aromas. Some are labelled, some are mysterious and tempting, some are obvious and familiar. Grace is said. In six different forms. It is a recognition of thanks in many words, some of another language, some sung beautifully in a slow soft voice. Everyone present is invited to share their form of praise or thanks or blessing, and many do. Everyone is accepting and respectful, patient and kind as the many "graces" are completed. And then it's time to eat. With such an overwhelming array of choices, you must choose wisely. My method is to take a small spoonful of everything I don't immediately recognize. Salads with bean sprouts and noodles of some kind, chicken roasted in a sweet sauce, little patties of breaded fish, vegetables roasted, rice steamed with meat. You can't possibly name it all, put a label on it and know immediately. It's a guessing game, a surprise and a wonderful meal. You make your way finally to a seat, by some stroke of luck finally deciding on a dessert -- the choices are endless. And at just the one table you are seated at, there are three different languages being spoken, but the message is the same -- what a wonderful meal, have you tried this, is that delicious, can I try some of what you have. The children have bits of this and tastes of that, but usually disappear to the children's room before too long, playing with each other as if they had known each other for years. There is no awkwardness, no social rules at that age, just play. They may not be able to pronounce each others' names, but a puzzle is a puzzle all the same. Games and toys are shared and discovered together. Santa makes an appearance and presents are handed out to children of all cultures, just the common magic of the imagination at work. Shy smiles and wary infants, watching Santa closely. Prizes are drawn for, beautiful handmade blankets and quilts, and are eagerly and honestly received by young and old. And as the meal winds down, plates are washed, many helping hands make quick work of the dishes — coming together without ever being asked. Others are folding up the tables and stacking the chairs, and the room seems suddenly empty and quiet, transformed. This is the magic of the PAMC, transforming your Saturday into an event, an entirely new world within, a mix of culture and food, friends and familiars. And as you walk out the doors at the end feeling somewhat reluctant to return to your routine, you eagerly anticipate the next one. ]]>Wed, 31 Oct 2012 06:19:06 GMThttp://www.pamcsk.com/blog/10-reasons-to-stay-in-a-job-for-10-years10 Reasons to Stay in a Job for 10 Yearsby

David K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott | 2:00 PM October 18, 2012

As of January 2012, the median time that wage and salary workers in the U.S. had been with their current employers was just 4.6 years. Other recent data points are equally disturbing: The staffing company Randstad says that 40% of employees are planning to look for a new job within the next six months. Another survey notes that 69% of employees are already at least passively shopping for new job opportunities via social media today.

Clearly, statistics show the majority of employees at every level are unhappy enough in their current positions to be actively or at least passively considering new jobs.

As business owners, we have big incentives to do all we can to keep our talented people around. But beyond our own motives, we think it's often good for employees to stick around, too. Here are the 10 reasons why we think executives and employees need to think carefully before making a jump:

1. Seniority: Executives who remain at a single company are able to rise in seniority, rather than having to compete for a stronger role at each new company as they go.

2. Leadership Opportunities: With seniority comes the chance to lead others and mentor newcomers through the transition to their new jobs. Executives who build loyal followings are naturally upheld by their teams, rather than having to defend the authority they've been given in a new firm by decree.

3. Stability: If executives are perpetually moving, it's difficult to make long-term plans. A little stability in career and workplace can help them cope more effectively with the stresses that are sure to occur within the rest of their lives.

4. Homeownership and retirement funds: Job hoppers pay a high price in home equity and retirement accounts. Every job change that requires a move will also enact a high transaction cost to change homes, which is never ideal outside of chosen opportunities to move to a more suitable home. Stability is also appealing to banks--lenders look more favorably on prospective borrowers who've held consistent jobs for a minimum of two years, and preferably more. Vesting in 401K and stock option programs is generally badly affected by hops. So while executives think they may gain an advantage by jumping for a sign-on bonus or raise, in the long term, the employees who maximize vesting schedules and maintain their retirement accounts will likely excel.

5. Increased Benefits: Many companies increase paid time off for employees who stay at a job for a certain number of years. Executives who stay can spend more time with their families and achieve more lifestyle goals with the extra time off and the extra stock and retirement savings long-term employment affords.

6. Self-Improvement: Executives who show the resilience to address their weaknesses rather than jumping ship and blaming their discontent on former co-workers and bosses may often be further ahead.

7. Dependability: An executive who is willing to stay the course for 10 or more years (which is typical in Japan and other European countries) demonstrates a level of dependability that companies will generally reward and respect.

8. Flexibility: Most people who stay at a company for a decade or more progress through multiple increasingly challenging roles while they're there. They typically try their hands at a variety of roles to help determine what they're most passionate about. The difference between moving within a company and moving between companies is that executives are able to retain their status and benefits while also being free to experiment and try some new things.

9. Perseverance: It's easy to quit over perceived unfairness or serious challenges. But it shows much stronger character to persevere, to find and enact solutions to problems, repair damage, and to take an active role in turning a situation around. (However, anyone who works in a genuinely toxic corporate environment should absolutely take their leave, as quickly as possible, and move on.)

10. A Say in the Company's Future: An executive can have a positive influence on their company's direction if they're willing to stick with the organization through good times and bad.

This is true for our company, and it's especially true for the opportunity we're beginning right now. Our team had a very direct role in buying ownership of our company back from a former investor in May of 2010. We're in the process right now of granting stock options to nearly half of our employees, and many more will receive shares within the coming six months. Now the employees and management own the company. Stock option ownership is based on behaviors that align with our 7 Non Negotiable principles, which you've heard us mention before.

In essence, we're creating opportunity for our employees to engage as entrepreneurs at every level of the company, without the risks or the drawbacks of founding a startup firm on their own.

We're working hard to give our employees good reason to stay with our company for the very long term, if not for life. We hope and believe we're far from alone. But regardless, given the many solid reasons for staying the course in a single company, shouldn't you take a second look at staying put in your own current job?

DAVID K. WILLIAMS AND MARY MICHELLE SCOTTDavid K. Williams and Mary Michelle Scott are CEO and President, respectively, the paired leadership team of Fishbowl, provider of Fishbowl Inventory Software, and one of Utah’s and America’s fastest growing companies. Fishbowl is based in Orem, Utah.

Bob was having trouble getting to sleep at night. He went to see his doctor, who prescribed some extra-strong sleeping pills.

Sunday night Bob took the pills, slept well and was awake before he heard the alarm. He took his time getting to the office, strolled in and said to his boss: "I didn't have a bit of trouble getting up this morning."

"That's fine," roared the boss, "but where were you Monday and Tuesday?"]]>Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:32:45 GMThttp://www.pamcsk.com/blog/few-rich-men-own-their-propertythe-property-owns-them-robert-en-ingersoll-american-iawyerFew rich men own their property.The property owns them.——Robert en Ingersoll. American Iawyer ]]>Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:28:22 GMThttp://www.pamcsk.com/blog/tue-30-oct-2012Bite-size bits of wisdom from Bill Gates"People do play computer games at work, but they also doodle with pencils. Do you take away their pencils? That's not the way a modern workforce is managed. You've got to trust people."

So said Microsoft's (MSFT) chairman in 1996, according to Impatient Optimist: Bill Gates in His Own Words -- and, like most quotations in this pocket-sized book, it seems as timely an observation as it was back then. Editor Lisa Rogak, whose Barack Obama In His Own Wordswas a 2008 bestseller, has compiled sound bites from Chairman Bill by topic, from A (acquiring other companies) to W (working with his wife).

The result is like eating salted peanuts: Once you start reading, it's hard to stop. Here's Gates on bigness: "Size works against excellence. Even if we are a big company, we cannot think like a big company or we are dead." On risk: "A little blindness is necessary when you undertake a risk. You have to have a little suspension of disbelief." On creativity: "We tell people if no one laughs at at least one of their ideas, they're probably not being creative enough."

Some of Gates' remarks in these pages shed light on his second career as a major-league philanthropist, like this one, on why corporations should give away money: "Profits are not always possible when business tries to serve the very poor. In such cases, there needs to be another market-based incentive -- and that incentive is recognition. Recognition…attracts good people to the organization."

Want to know more about his personal life? Here's a nugget from a commencement address he gave at Harvard a few years ago, about his lack of success with women while he was a student there: "Radcliffe [the women's college that merged with Harvard in 1977] was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were math-science types. That combination gave me the best odds, if you know what I mean. That's where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success."

And speaking of Harvard, it's clear Gates doesn't relish his status as a role model for dropouts. "It concerns me to hear that young people say they don't want to go to college because I didn't graduate, " he once told a New York Times reporter. "For one thing, I got a pretty good education even though I didn't stay long enough to get my degree. For another, the world is getting more competitive, specialized, and complex each year, making a college education as critical today as a high school diploma was at one time." Tell your kids.

For sheer chattiness, it would be tough to beat Sir Richard Branson's new book, Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School. Drawn from his syndicated column, the book rambles all over the place, like a conversation over an old-fashioned three-martini lunch, complete with candid confessions.

One such concerns Branson's regret over not having closed Virgin Megastores when the brick-and-mortar music retailer, slammed by MP3s, started bleeding red ink. "We did not make a speedy exit in part because I resisted closing the business, " Branson recalls. "But the scale of the losses meant we had to sell [the stores]…and focus on markets where we could be the disruptors, not the disrupted."

Although parts of Like a Virgin are as apparently as whimsical as its famously flamboyant author -- there's a whole chapter on why he hates neckties, for instance -- Branson has emphatic ideas about topics like customer service, especially how companies get it wrong.

"Most callers to customer helplines around the world are greeted with some variation of what's surely the most absurd statement ever recorded, " he writes. And what might that statement be? It's this: "Your business is very important to us. Please continue to hold."